RUN HOSTS NIGERIAN UNION OF RADIO SCIENCE
NATIONAL CONFERENCE [NURS 2009]

The Vice-Chancellor of the Redeemer's University, Professor Oyewale Tomori, has said that proper application and use of satellite has richly blessed our generation more than our ancestors. He made this remark on Thursday December 3, 2009 at the opening ceremony of the 9th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Union of Radio Science (NURS) at the Redemption Resort Centre at the Redemption Camp. He said that on daily basis, consumers use satellite TV receivers to intercept TV signals transmitted by networks and cable TV companies, and in new portable telephone systems. Satellites also play a major role in military and defence system not only for communications but also for surveillance. As he put it: “Through the application of satellite technology the world had become a global village, and only those countries that will not effectively utilizes satellites technology, will remain outcast in the world.”

He noted that the speed of information has also been changing rapidly, and that almost everything can be heard or seen as it happens, in “real time”. He disclosed that in 1492 Isabella of Castile, Queen of Spain, had to wait for six mouths to learn of Christopher Columbus' discovering of the New World. Four centuries later, in 1865, the British Government learned of Abraham Linoln's assassination 12 weeks after the vent. However, in 1969, it took only 1.3 seconds for the world to be informed of Armstrong's landing on the moon.

In his own welcome address, Professor Dare Ajewole, disclosed that Nigeria became member of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) in 1978 through the Nigerian Union of Planetary and Radio Science (NUPRS). He said that as a result of lack of funds, Nigeria could not meet her obligation to the URSI. However, through the financial support from the Royal Society of London, Nigeria was re-admitted into URSI in 2008 after ten years of absence.

He told the gathering that the Union still face challenges particularly in meeting the annual subscription of $1000 to URSI. He said that the 2010 annual membership fees would not be enough to pay the subscription to URSI and at the same time run the National Secretariat of the Union. He called on members present to go the extra mile to help the union. He said that the theme of this year conference was carefully chosen to reflect the challenges associated with Nigeria's recent endeavour into space technology development. He disclosed that the theme of this year's conference was “Satellite Technology and Its Application”. He further disclosed that seasoned researchers, erudite scholars and policy makers have been invited to deliver papers.

The climax of the opening ceremony was the presentation of Awards to Professor Dare Ajewole and Professor Lawrence Kolawole for their outstanding contribution to the growth of the Union.